Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

A multilayered, beautifully textured novel about family and self, self-indulgence and generosity, against the vivid backdrop of contemporary Miami.

In the tropical paradise that is Miami, Avis and Brian Muir are still haunted by the disappearance of their ineffably beautiful daughter, Felice, who ran away when she was thirteen. Now, after five years of modeling tattoos, skateboarding, clubbing, and sleeping in a squat house or on the beach, Felice is about to turn eighteen. Her family―Avis, an exquisitely talented pastry chef; Brian, a corporate real estate attorney; and her brother, Stanley, the proprietor of Freshly Grown, a trendy food market―will each be forced to confront their anguish, loss, and sense of betrayal. Meanwhile, Felice must reckon with the guilty secret that drove her away, and must face her fear of losing her family and her sense of self forever.

This multilayered novel about a family that comes apart at the seams―and finds its way together again―is totally involving and deeply satisfying, a glorious feast of a book.

Special offers and product promotions

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This Jordanian American author writes about food so enticingly that her books should be published on sheets of phyllo dough. Birds of Paradise contains her most mouthwatering writing ever, but it’s no light after-dinner treat. This is a full-course meal, a rich, complex and memorable story that will leave you lingering gratefully at her table.” - Ron Charles, The Washington Post

“The novel itself swells with life and style, with the stark contrast of the delicacy of fancy pastries and the down and dirty life on the beach.” - Alan Cheuse, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA., NPR, All Things Considered

“Diana Abu-Jaber’s gorgeous novel explores the ways a modern family can break down and be reborn. She writes with a precise, almost poetic distillation of feeling, heightened in contrast to the ripe, exuberant landscape and the unsettled feelings of a family in limbo.” - Amy Driscoll, Miami Herald

“With Birds of Paradise, Abu-Jaber has made an amazing, gigantic leap into rare air, that hazy stratosphere we jokingly call The Big Time. Her novel is that worthy, and that beautiful.” - Christine Selk, The Oregonian

About the Author

Diana Abu-Jaber is the award-winning author of four novels, including Crescent, and two memoirs, Life Without a Recipe and The Language of Baklava. She and her family divide time between Miami, Florida, and Portland, Oregon.

Top customer reviews

This is my first time reviewing a book on Amazon, or anywhere, but I enjoyed it so much I had to share.

Truth be told, I've been reading mostly non fiction for the past few years, self help, food books, et al and was getting tired of them and just wanted to "escape" into a book that would take me away. I had just finished "A Walk in the Woods" and thought I'd check out a local Miami talent so purchased the Kindle version of Birds of Paradise.

Normally, I would not have picked up this book because I don't read a lot of books about "kids" so initially the subject matter didn't necessarily appeal to me, but the fact that the author is a local Miamian, I wanted to support her but also I was curious about the inclusion of the pastries! I soon found out that Birds of Paradise was not a book about a "kid" but much more than that and the fact that the pastry making was interwoven throughout, actually drove me crazy with cravings!

I really enjoyed it. I like books that make me think...and this one did. It made me think about my friend's daughter who is a bit too "grown up" at 12, it made me think about my own innocence at that age, it made me think about my own marriage. I like that.

I also enjoyed the Miami setting and the time frame as I, myself, moved to Miami in the summer of 2005, just in time for hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Rita AND I became a realtor and went to all the events for the pre-con phase! It made the book that much more real to me.

Abu-Jabar's writing style is descriptive and took me "there" to the book's setting, I could see Avis' backyard, imagine her sugary kitchen and the heaviness of sub tropical life in Miami.

Well done. I truly took pleasure in reading it and highly recommend this. Thanks!

As an educator, I found Diana Abu-Jaber's beautifully written novel, Birds of Paradise, to be a realistic view of middle-school age "mean girls" and the damage their insensitivity can cause for them and their families. This book, therefore, raises important questions about family: Can we always protect our children? Are we bad parents if we don't know about our children's hidden lives and guilt? Can we forgive them? Can we forgive ourselves? How does the way we were parented affect our parenting? Why does each family member seem to deal with tragedy differently? Are we immoral if we are attracted to someone other than our spouse? Are we judgemental of families in turmoil? Do we think that our family could never become ripped apart? If the unthinkable happened, do we have the strength to deal with the fallout? These are just a few questions inspired by this many-layered novel. The themes of birds of paradise, baking, gardening, gentrification, and storms generate many more thoughtful reflections. I believe the best way to read this book is with one or more friends. The issues Birds of Paradise raises are too important not to discuss them with others.

I bought this book because it is about troubled teenagers in a wealthy Miami community... I have been reading this book for a year.... I liked it, I felt bad for the daughter, but the parents were genuinely hurt and afraid for her. They really try hard to find out why the norm could not work for their daughter... At 14 she runs away and lives from alley to alley, to a friends home or anyplace where anyone will let her and help to feed her; but she is on drugs as well... This is where I basically stopped reading it... I felt that she was a spoiled child who had no business being out there on her own. I haven't figured out yet why the police haven't picked her up yet!!!! This has now become one of my bathroom library books. Hopefully, I will pick it up again and finish it.... my bathroom books usually take about a year to read..... so, we shall seeeeee!!! I'll be back!!

I really wanted to like this book as I loved Diana Abu-Jaber's first 3 books, but I didn't like Origin or Birds of Paradise. To me, this latest book seemed very flat with cardboard characters, and much of it wasn't believable.The more I got into the book the less I liked it, and it seemed very disjointed; including Felice's reasons for running away , her being able to survive for 5 years as a run-away but still be lovely and unharmed by the experience that seems totally nuts. In reality she probably would have been on hard drugs, eating from trash cans, and turning tricks none of which is really dealt it. it's very lyrical and poetic, but it's not realistic or believable, and ultimately it became very tedious and annoying. I totally agree with some of the comments that were made, this is really annoying book.Crescent and Arabian Jazz were very good books, and I loved them, and I also loved Ms. Abu-Jaber's family memoir - The Language of Baklava. I wish she would get back to writing other books similar in style to her earlier books as they were far more interesting and more engaging than her later 2 books, and additionally the characters in the earlier books were much better portrayed.

Although Avis seems cool , she is obviously distraught over the fact that her daughter has run away. She has no idea why this has happened and it is beyond her control to do anything about it. She copes by throwing herself into her work, creating beautiful pastries in her otherwise forlorn house. She cannot recover from feeling abandoned by her daughter. How this relationship is resolved makes for fascinating reading and is contrasted by the luxuriant descriptiveness of Abujabers writing.Anyone with children will surely relate to the characters as they wend their way through their lives.

Loved the south Florida setting and the glimpse into the darker side of the South Beach scene. Enjoyed the baking sections, their lyrical description. Inter-family relationships fascinating. Loved the intriguing, annoying neighbor bird. You could feel the sultry heat and humidity of the Florida afternoons,